Tuesday, 12 August 2008

The Binding Chair by Kathryn Harrison

I have read back through the two sets of Journal Entries and the website that was placed in one JE about foot binding, as I could really "visualize" the process from the description in the book, and for me that was crucial to understand the storyline.

Essentially, this is the story of Mae who is married to a silk merchant and is his fourth wife, she flees him to a life in a Shanghai brothel, which is preferable to her married life. In 1899 she meets and marries an Australian called Arthur. The time line does flit from past to present, which I found in part irritating,but nonetheless,I continued to read.The ending is both dramatic and unexpected.

2 comments:

A year or two ago I read Wild Swans by Jung Chang who talked about foot binding. Her descriptions made me cry. I'm putting this one on my list because of what you said about the ending being dramatic and unexpected.

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About Me

I am a Surrey girl, who is very proud of her roots, which go back almost 300 years in Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. I currently live in the West Country of England, but Surrey is always home! I am also half Italian and thus have an interest in Italian culture and genealogy.

After a career in pharmacy management spanning more than 20 years, I made the decision to look at my options as to where my professional life was heading. I wanted to expand my work portfolio within the training and writing arena; to utilise my historical and research skills along with other qualifications and years of experience. I created The Book of Me, Written by You back in the Autumn of 2012. It threads together the focus of my interests and qualifications. Enabling me to encourage others to think beyond the obvious as we analyse our own lives and those of our close family members.

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